This invention relates generally to the field of pressurized dispensing and in particular to actuator devices for finger actuation of dispensing apparatus associated with aerosol containers.
During recent years pressure packaging has developed into one of the most popular forms of packaging for fluid products. Such packages, which have become known as aerosols, have tremendous advantages in convenience and ease of application. Their popularity is evidenced by the fact that many billions of aerosols are used each year.
Although aerosol packaging in general has shown itself to be one of the safest forms of packaging, efforts are continually being made to improve product safety; it can be demonstrated that the safety of aerosol devices has improved greatly in recent years. One aspect of the safety effort has been an attempt to render the contents of aerosol containers inaccessible to children of tender years. Aerosol devices which accomplish this have been given the designation "child-safe" and many devices suitable for this purpose have been developed. See U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,712,515, 3,768,968, 3,622,052, 3,610,475, 3,706,401, 3,729,120, 3,770,167 and 3,722,748.
One problem with many of these devices is that after product use the device does not return itself to a child-safe condition; a separate intentional action on the part of the user is required to render the device child-safe. Another problem with many devices is complexity of structure and operation which make the device difficult to operate or expensive to manufacture. There has been a need for an aerosol actuating device which returns itself to a child-safe condition after use without human intervention and is simple in operation and economical in construction.
One approach to the problem of developing child-safe containers has been to make use of the normal differences in finger dimensions between adults and children of tender years. It is well known that adults have longer and wider fingers than young children. Various efforts have been made to utilize these differences in the past as evidenced by U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,712,515 and 3,786,968.
Corrl Pat. No. 3,812,515 utilizes the difference in finger length between an adult and a child to render an aerosol actuating button inaccessible to a child of tender years. The device includes a tunnel having an actuator button at one end and an open end at the other end. Only a finger greater than a predetermined length can reach the button. The Corrl overcap has some disadvantages. First, its shape is non-concentric with respect to the container with which it is used, which has the potential for problems in package assembly, packing for shipment, and in placement on store shelves. An additional problem is that a finger can become entrapped in the tunnel when one person is taking the product from another, leading to possible broken fingers. Ewald U.S. Pat. No. 3,786,968 utilizes the difference in finger widths of children and adults. An adult finger is wide enough to spread laterally movable disabling members adjacent an actuator button thereby freeing the button for actuating depression, while a narrow finger would fail to spread the disabling members. The Ewald device, while having an automatic locking capability, has shown itself to be difficult to understand and operate. Furthermore, its construction is complex and is believed to be expensive.